The Zwickel and I have became good friends over the past year. Ive never had a beer where freshness was so important as this one. Check the date. Ive talked to reps on tours (I take my graduating students on a tour of the brewery) and they've said that after 2 months of being bottled, the quality drops sharply.

Color is Hefeweizen gold with a tinge of orange hue; it's fairly cloudy with a bit of yeast settling on the bottom. Head pours large and pretty thick and leaves lace. Yes, a mass produced beer (from Austria's biggest brewery) that leaves lace and a fair amount of it. Flavor is a bit grainy, dry, and light...not a flattering description, but actually quite good...is complemented very well by a bit of lemon. Carbonation is full...though today is far from warm, Ive finished a few of these quite easily on hot days.

Pours up a rocky small bubbled head that leaves plenty of lace. The aroma is of deep malt with hints of toasted malts and caramel. The mild malt sweetness is backed up by a mild citrus hop and yeast aroma. Hints of sulphur are to be found also The carbonation on this Bier is high and it presents a medium bodied Bier that shows strong flavor influences from the yeast. (sulphur) The Bier is upfront very balanced and finishes slightly sweet. The malt is nice and has hints of grain to it. The yeast taste clean. Nice Bier but a bit down the middle for me....

Found in a Vienna supermarket, the standard brown half liter bottle features a green and gold lable with a coat of arms above the name. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 4/30/07, I opened it on 2/22/07.

Pours a cloudy straw gold under a one finger slightly off-white head that fades fairly quickly to film and collar but is too thin and runny to generate any lace. The nose is strong and malty, with a definite wheat tone along with a touch of metallic spice. The mouth is light and quite well carbonated. Mild, pleasant enough taste, slightly sweet at first but primarily dry and bitter, a bit of rust intruding on the espresso in the hops. There's definitely a rough edge here, which both appeals and repells. The aftertaste is spicey bitter, lasting long as it fades to espresso dry. Not bad at all, I could see downing a few pitchers of this some evening.

A Draught beer sampled at the brewery tap. A golden slightly hazy beer with little head retention of a white head. Initially a pale malty/sherberty taste, following through as the hop character builds to a medium end where both flavors subside together in a slighty sticky end. Not a bad beer, this Zwickelbeer.